Official Emotiva XPA-5 Owners Thread - Page 35

Quote:

Originally Posted by don480 

Hi....I haven't been on this thread for a long time or even post often but I am excited to share that I own a pair of JBL Studio 530's bookshelves and JBL Studio 520 Center. I love these speakers. I have them hooked up to a Yamaha RX-A3020. My receiver seem to have plenty of power to push these speakers but for some reason I am so tempted to purchase the Emotiva XPR-5 which is probably overkill for these speakers. Especially the fact that these speakers are rated at 150 watts RMS per channel and the Emotiva puts out 400 watts per channel @ 8 ohms however, the JBL's are 6 ohm. So does anyone have any opinions? Should i be concerned of blowing these speakers? Am I going to hear a major difference in sound quality. I am more concerned with getting more dynamic range and superior sound quality (full deep sound). Is this a good combination? or Should I consider the smaller Emovtiva XPA-5? Or should I consider a different Amp all together that would be a better combination with my system? I use 70 percent for home theater and 30 percent for music. Eventually, I plan on purchasing the floor standing JBL Studio 590s which definitely can handle more power. Any thoughts?

You won't harm your speakers unless you crank the volume up to the max, which is unlikely as you would hear horrendous distortion and, hopefully, turn it back down before any damage occurred. Onkyos have a volume limit you can set to prevent this sort of thing but IDK if Yamaha does.

The real issue is why you feel the need to add an external amp if your AVR "has plenty of power". You won’t notice any difference at all in SQ unless your current amps are not capable of driving your speakers, in your room, to the SPLs you want, without clipping. If you are clipping the current amps, then you need more power, but if you are not driving the current amps into clipping, having unused power will make no difference to the SQ. IDK but I suspect that your JBLs present a fairly easy load to an amp, so you won’t benefit there either by using external amps.

If you are pushing your current amps to the limit, short of clipping, to achieve the SPLs you want, then you could possibly benefit from more headroom, but from what you say this doesn't seem to be the case. 

So, on balance, I would say you will not benefit really from a new amp.

The big improvements in SQ come from better speakers and subs, proper placement of the speakers and sub(s) and room treatments. If you are really after a substantial improvement in SQ this is where you should be looking to spend your money. If you currently have one sub, you could get a good improvement in your bass by adding another (preferably identical). If your current sub is not of high quality, you could use the money you have saved by not buying an unnecessary amp to buy a really good sub. Or you could use the money towards the speaker upgrade you are thinking of anyway. All of those will give you much more significant changes in SQ than a new amp. If you don't have WAF issues, room treatments will give you the biggest possible bang for your buck - way, way in excess of new electronics.

Quote:

Originally Posted by don480 

Thank you for the response. Wow that makes a lot of sense. I love these JBLs...What thehifi gave it 5 stars and testfreaks.com gave it 9.9/10 score which influenced me in purchasing these speakers without even auditioning them. I do enjoy the sound especially in 2 channel mode using pure direct. You are right though..my receiver has plenty of power to push these speakers and never had any clipping issues and I never crank it up too loud. Just thought maybe an amp would even improve more clarity and sound stage etc. In other words just trying to get the most out of these babies that I can I do own 2 identical subs..they are the Polk PSW505 got them I sale. They sound okay...I've owned better subs in the past. Any suggestions on subs that would be a good match for my system? I hear SVS are good but they sure do cost a lot. If I do upgrade to the 590's then I could benefit from an external amp? Sorry for all the questions...

If your current amps drive the speakers the way you say, then you are all set in the amp department. A new amp won't add anything at all for you in these circumstances. Think about it - you are probably using less than 50 watts of the Yamaha amps anyway and you have enough in reserve for probably 3dB of headroom, which is enough. Adding amps that are several times more powerful won't achieve anything for you - the power will just sit unused. But your bank account will surely feel the difference! :) Spend the money on better speakers/subs/room treatments and you will really notice a difference.

SVS subs are generally reckoned to have one of the greatest value for money vs sound quality ratios. I have owned two of their subs in the past and been delighted with them (I now use dual Seaton Submersives and will almost certainly never buy subs again). A good sub is the foundation stone of a movies system - the difference a good sub makes in significant - and you will find it improves the sound right across the frequency spectrum as well, for various reasons.

WRT to the 590s, if they are less efficient than the current speakers then an external amp might benefit. If they are the same efficiency then no, it won't make any difference at all. Check JBL's data sheets for efficiency ratings of the current speakers and the 590s - you are looking for a figure like 87dB/1watt/1m. That shows how many decibels 1 watt of amp power delivers at 1 metre. JBLs are usually very efficient so the figure may be higher than the (typical) 87dB I gave as an example. If both the current and the 590 speakers have the same, or very close, efficiency, a more powerful amp won't achieve anything. If the 590s are even more efficient, doubly so.

It is important to remember that amps contribute very little these days to the overall SQ because for many years now any decent SS amp has produced distortion figures that are well below the threshold at which humans can hear any such distortion. IOW, they pass the input signal unchanged at the output other than in amplitude. So, as long as you have enough power to drive the speakers to the required SPLs, without clipping or distortion, which you do, then any differences between amps will be audibly insignificant.  For better SQ, concentrate on the areas where it really makes a difference: room, speakers, subs, placement. That is where your money will really deliver what you are after.